Persona 4: Twisted Journey
by The Beta Tester
Summary: Pants could be heard throughout the ghost town as a boy ran, fear emanating from his body as he sprinted. He looked around, searching for something feverously. He heard sounds coming from behind him and sprinted harder, knowing his fate if he was caught by his pursuers. First story so please be patient with me. :)
1. The Beginning

Pants could be heard throughout the ghost town as a boy ran, fear emanating from his body as he sprinted. He looked around, searching for something feverously. He heard sounds coming from behind him and sprinted harder, knowing his fate if he was caught by his pursuers. He was 16 by appearance, dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a T-shirt with a Kingdom Hearts display. He could only think two things. _Where are they? How did this even happen?_

_Earlier..._

"Hey Jake, what should I fuse for in Persona?" I ask my brother, who was nearby playing one of his games.

"Get Alice, her abilities are strong" He replied, and I nodded, relaxing into my recliner while starting to get the personae I needed from my compendium.

"Ngh!" I groaned as I heard a sharp noise in my head. I turned, about to ask if my brother had heard the noise when I saw his position. His mouth was open, but not moving, as if paused in time.

Then, a voice spoke in my head, hurting worse than before. "Thou art I, and I am thou. Thou shalt be the one to open the door." The mysterious voice said while I writhed in pain from it. I tried to remember what I had believed the voice was familiar from but the pain had clouded my thoughts.

I heard my brother once more and I assumed everything had returned to normal, or at least as normal as possible. '_Maybe some sleep would help clear my mind and some of the headache_' I thought. "Hey Jake, I'm going to go to bed" I said, getting up slowly and walking to my bed before laying back down, falling asleep the moment my head hit the pillow.

In my dream, I was startled by the vivid display I could see, in contrast to my normal blur of dreams. I was in a limo of some sort, a moving one at that. There seemed to be a bar to my left, which was heavily stocked with several assortments of alcohol. The inside of the limo happened to be velvet, which was making me struggle to remember why all of this seemed so familiar. To my right, there was a man who looked to be about a year older than me, judging from his appearance. Across the table in front of me was two people, an old man and a mysterious woman.

"Welcome to the Velvet room." The man said, gesturing to the inside of the limo. The man was dressed in a black suit accompanied with white gloves. His more defining features were his bloodshot eyes, pointed ears, and his ridiculously long nose. His companion wore a velvet blue dress with intricate designs. She also had white hair and held a book which seemed to emanate something mysterious.

I decided to turn my gaze towards the man as he began to speak again. "Good evening, my name is Igor and I have summoned you here from within your dreams" Igor said to me and gesturing to the man said "and you while you're awake." He met our gaze with a smile that made me feel uneasy. _Igor? Why do I know that name, or any of this? What the hell is going on?!_ "I'm sure you have many questions, especially you young man." He said, gesturing towards me.

"Huh? Well…..What is this?" I asked, still confused at my situation.

The man next to me turned his gaze towards me, clearly upset. "Igor, he's just a kid! Why is he here?" The man asked, making me slightly annoyed.

"And who are you then? You're barely older than me!" I growled back, aware that Igor seems slightly distressed at the conversation's turn.

"My name is Souji Seta. And yours?" he asked, seeing me look even more confused. _Why is that name familiar too?! Time for answers._

"My name is Benjamin Saori. Now would someone kindly tell me what is going on?" I ask forcefully, making Igor sigh before he spoke.

"As I have stated, this is the Velvet room, and you and Mr. Seta are here to discuss the upcoming events. First off, do you believe in fortune telling?" He asked, earning a look of confusion from me.

"You mean like tarot cards? Not really…" I answered, and with a gesture, Igor brought a deck of tarot cards onto the table. "Well young man, it seems the fates foretold by these cards have intertwined your fates." Igor said, sparking and immediate outburst from Souji.

"Igor! We barely made it out of there! Yosuke is still hurt from Chie's shadow! And we still haven't saved Yukiko!" Souji shouted, anger sparking to his face along with a strange sense of defense in my part.

"Things are different now Mr. Seta!" Igor snapped, before sighing once more and continuing "This isn't a standard journey. Everything has changed. That's what happens when dealing when two wild cards." Igor stated, looking at me with a sorrowful expression before reverting back to a smile. "I'm afraid I can't keep you here for long, but you must find him. You'll know who." Igor said, his voice fading as my vision started going black. _No! Who must I find? Where? _

My eyes opened and I sat up with a gasp. I could hear thunder crash outside so I thought it was storming but I decided not to check it out. I needed to test a suspicion I had. It was impossible, but with everything I had heard, I needed to test it. I had started to feel sick to my stomach with my idea but I need to go through with it. I walked up to my TV, and with a final breath, I slowly pushed my hand towards the screen. I wasn't prepared to deal with what would happen if my hand went through. I thought since it was based off of the game, my idea would fail. With a crashed of thunder, I jumped and was pulled by something into my TV.

**Hi, and welcome to the first chapter of my story! I'm just starting out, so any help along the way is greatly appreciated. Hopefully, you enjoy my story :) Review please, and if you can, tell others. Any questions? Feel free to pm me or ask in the reviews! Until next time~**


	2. New Power

**Oh my, second chapter! I was so excited when I saw so many of you viewed my story (In comparison to my brother, sister, and myself :3) You're even so scattered, it's crazy my story has gone to other countries! I'll try my hardest to give you great expectations for my story, but please, any reviews or criticism is well appreciated. If I repeat a lot, or if I seem a bit ****out of it with my character moods, please tell me. Shout out to the guest who was the first one to review: iamyouyouareme. Thank you all so much for taking time to read! Now onto the chapter! –The Beta Tester**

I could feel the musty wind cling to my body as I fell from an unknown height, my eyes shut as if expecting the pain to come at any moment. I'll admit it, I was scared. Hell, I was terrified.'_Please, whatever can hear me, forgive any mistakes I've made to deserve this fate. I don't know what's happening, I'm just a kid!' _I thought, since while I don't believe or disbelieve in a god, I do believe in karma.

The pain came faster than I thought it would, but not any less painful. A sharp crack could be heard as I hit the ground, immediately clutching my shoulder. I let out a bloodcurdling scream, the noise gurgling in my throat from the excruciating pain. I had never broken a serious bone, so I didn't know how to deal with it. I tried my hardest to look away from my protruding shoulder, and focused on my surroundings. I was in some sort of shopping strip, where I could see small stores a couple feet away in the deep fog that had seemed to settle on this town. "So if I fell through the tv, this must be the shopping district…" I said aloud, struggling to stand and further struggling to walk along the road.

My ears perked up as I heard noise from close behind me, and as I turned, I could make out two creatures hidden within the mist. My eyes widened as the revelation that I had been in the same situation as in the game, but so much worse. I started running, not caring about the attention it would bring, but about getting away from whatever those things were. Before long, I started panting as I had been running in horrible condition. "Help!" I screamed, not stopping while doing so. I looked behind me to see those things were getting closer, and I could make out some details, like its round shape. "No. no, no, no, no, no!" I screamed, terrified as the creatures started catching up.

Something jumped out next to me, running parallel to me as I ran from the monsters. I jumped away, still running, and looked at the thing in fear. It was a bear. A giant teddy bear, almost my height and I'm 5'8. "Keep running, I have reinforcements!" Shrieked the bear while running.

I could see more figures in the mist up ahead, but I knew they wouldn't be able to catch up. I collapsed, unable to run any farther. "Huh?! Get up, they're coming!" The bear exclaimed timidly.

"Ngh!" I gasped, unable to get up. I looked toward the monsters, only 10 feet away now.

"No! Help us!" The bear shouted to the figures, coming towards us at a speed that wouldn't get them here in time.

'_Ngh..I can't get away! I need to think of something. Maybe….I need to try. For me and the damned bear.'_ I thought. I glared at the monsters, which had an appearance like a zebra beach ball with a huge mouth. I stood, struggling as I got up, and moved in front of the bear.

"What are you doing? They'll kill you!" The bear screamed, but the words fell on deaf ears.

"Per…" I started, the very beginning stopping the monsters. "So…." I continued, getting angry for all the trauma I've been through. Two cards floated down, within my grasp. '_Yes child, open the door for us.' _A voice said in my head, but I shook it off as I finished the word. "Na!" I exclaimed, shattering the cards in my hand as a blue fire blazed in my hand. The flame didn't burn, but instead, two beings came to my call. I watched in awe as two beings that I recognized stood guard, protecting me and the bear from the monsters. "Izanagi! Orpheus!" I screamed, the two beings rushing to the monsters, swinging their respective harp and naginata. As the monsters dissipated, I could hear the shouts of the group coming my way, but I paid it no mind. My eyes started to shut on their own, and I collapsed.

"Hey kid!" "Dude!" "Master!" I heard as I blacked out. _Hehe I guess saving that bear makes me feel better about this. Time to…rest._

In my dream, I was back in the Velvet room. "Well, my boy, you certainly are a change in the story. You saved that bear, who wandered away to find what made such a scream in the shopping district." Igor said, being the one to welcome me into the Velvet room.

"Am I dead?" I asked, sure that I had used all of my power to summon those beings.

"Why, no you aren't. You are very much asleep, being taken out of that world as we speak." He replied.

"Maybe you should explain everything. You never even introduced me to Margaret, or gave me that tarot card reading." I said exasperated. He smirked in response.

"Well, if you know her name, you already were acquainted. First, I'll give you that reading." He said, returning a deck of tarot cards to the table. He placed nine cards on the table, before flipping one upwards. "The fool arcana in the upright position. Hm, I had expected as much." He chuckles, irritating me.

"What did you just say?" I growled, before realizing his bait "Oh, you mean it's the start of my journey?"

"Exactly, young man." Igor smiled, his bulging eyes and long nose making the attempt at being friendly seem unsettling. As expected, Igor flips over another card, before explaining the meaning. "The fortune arcana in the reverse position. It seems as if your journey will be one of great strife, and misfortunes will befall upon you. You must have the ability to press ahead, with your personae at your side." He said, before giving a sympathetic smile.

"That's great. I have a broken arm and fate against me." I said, voice dripping with as much sarcasm as I could muster.

Igor flipped a final card. "The moon arcana in the upright position. At the peak of your journey, you will go through a time of doubt, but you must trust yourself. Now go along, young man. We will speak once more, on your own accord. Until next time." He said, his voice fading as my vision blacked out.

"Ughh…" I groaned as I woke up. '_Where am I? What happened?' _I looked around, groaning at the pain in my arm. I was in a white room, hooked up to an IV. _A hospital? How did I get here? _I looked towards a chair in the room, close to the door, to see a person sleeping softly. He had silver hair, but looked young. I recognized him instantly as the man from the Velvet room, Souji Seta.

I tried sitting up and calling his name "Sou-ngh!" I let out, still feeling sore in my legs and abdomen. It worked though, as he opened his eye and looked at me shocked.

"You're awake!" He said, getting up to stop me from moving. "Take it easy, you're still injured."

Laying back down, I tried to remember what had happened. "Okay. How did I get here?" I asked him, still confused to the situation. He had pulled out his phone, texting while seemingly pondering what to say.

"Yosuke and I carried you here, since we saw you collapse. The doctors just think you pushed your limits and broke your arm upon falling." He replied, giving a sympathetic smile as I looked at him shocked.

"When can we leave? And where am I supposed to go?" I asked, my worries still not subsiding. He looked at me questioningly.

"Don't you live somewhere around here?" He asked. "I don't know where I even am." I replied to him, wondering what to say about my being in a game. "We're in Yasoinaba hospital." He replied. I sighed, and finally told him the events prior to meeting up with him in the TV world.

"Hm, so to get this straight, we're a game in your world?" He asked, with an unreadable expression.

"I know I sound psychotic, but if a TV world is real, why can't another world be real?" I asked him, trying to explain the situation.

"Well, let's deal with this another time. Our current problem is where you'll be staying. Do you remember from….I guess being me, how to get to Junes?" He asked me, looking confused at the thought of being a game character.

"I think so…Why?"

"Chie and Yosuke are waiting there. I'm sorry, but we don't have much time. We need to save our friend Yukiko and we've barely made it to the 3rd floor." He said in response before dialing a number and waving me to go.

As I walked to the front desk of the hospital to check myself out, the lady at the desk looked at me funny. "Are you sure you want to leave? You're supposed to stay for testing. Plus, you need an adult to sign you out." The woman said

. '_What? How do I get out of here? Wait…_' I thought, coming up with an idea. I started to feign crying, looking away and poking my eye to fake the appearance of tears. "M-my parents are dead. I don't have a family." I said, doing my best to throw off my voice. It startled the woman, and she let me leave after giving me a hug. I gave her a depressing smile and walked outside, following the path that I would take in the game to get to Junes.

**Haha, sorry I had to end here :D I don't mean to leave a cliffhanger (Albeit a poor one) But I have plans for the next chapter already. As for Ben's dual personae, that will be explained :3 If you don't like it, don't worry. You'll find out why…Stay tuned! :D Reviews are greatly appreciated (It'll make my day :3) I'll be writing more and more words to get better at this. Until next time~ - The Beta Tester**

**Edit- Oh my gosh! Forgot disclaimers! I don't own Persona 4 or anything in regards to it (I can dream though). Ben, however, is of my creation.**

**Edit+- Spacing fixed in chap 1 and 2, courtesy of advice from AIYF Productions and Someone else :3. Also some errors and sentencing fixes.**


	3. Birds of Prey

**Let's go chapter 3! Thanks so much for all you out there who read! I hate to be nagging about it (because I really do worry about it) but please review! It really helps me get hyped up to write, and it helps my writing itself. Anyway, besides all that stuff, I don't have much to say. Sorry for being slow to update though, I had a falling out with a friend so I didn't have the best week. Anyway, on to the story.**

'_Finally_' I thought as Junes came within sight. I quickened my pace and started jogging to the department store. I had barely made it in the elevator before I stopped to examine who was inside with me.

He was wearing a black suit and had matching unruly hair. He had a carefree smile on his face as he stood waiting to get on his floor. '_He seems familiar. Damn it! Why can't I remember more?!_' I thought, my anger rising as my memory reached its limit.

_Earlier..._

"I'm telling you, that's not how it works!" I shouted at Souji, who sighed angrily with it written all over his face.

"How don't you remember?!" He asked irritated.

"I don't know! Things seem familiar yet blurry. I'm trying my hardest to remember details." '_How did I save Yukiko in the game? It had something to do the group's persona abilities_' I thought, sincerely trying to help form a plan to save their friend.

"We don't have much time! We have a few days before it will become foggy!"

"We'll get as far as we can today then." I replied, glaring as if waiting for him to challenge my statement. He sighed and nodded.

"What about your arm? Can you still fight?"

"Yes, but I'm going to need something I can use one handed."

_Present..._

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and get prepped for the upcoming battles. I got off the elevator to go to the food court.

When I arrived, I noticed a few things. One of them was that the food court was almost entirely empty, with only a couple having people eating or enjoying others company. Second was that I heard someone start shouting to a point where I had to cover my ears. Lastly, I noticed that a giant teddy bear was flying towards me. I quickly side stepped, watching the bear fly past and into a nearby table.

"Oww..." I heard the bear whine, before two people started laughing behind me.

"Nice one man!" The male teenager laughed, clapping me on the back. "My name is Yosuke Hanamura, you're the kid who passed out right?"

"Yeah, that's me. Who's the bear and the girl behind you?"

"That's Teddie, and the meat eater behind me I-" Yosuke started to say before getting a swift kick in the side and falling.

"Hey! What were you going to say?" The girl growled as she turned back toward me. "My name is Chie Satonaka. Is that a problem?!"

"No! Just didn't know. Already injured enough." I replied quickly, backing up slightly noticing how painful the kick must have felt to knock over Yosuke.

She gasped before looking slightly embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I'm just worried and quick to anger."

"It's okay. That's why we're here. We will save her." I said, in an attempt to reassure her. Luckily, she seemed like it helped calm her.

"Master!" I heard Teddie exclaim behind me. I turned, noticing him staring at me excited.

"Master?" I asked confused.

"With your power and Master Souji's power, you destroyed all the shadows that would've got me yesterday!" He said eagerly.

"Just call me Ben please."

"Got it master! I mean Ben!" Teddie agreed.

Souji had walked in a moment later and we sat down at the table the group had maintained as their HQ.

"So let's get down to business. We need to get closer to the last floor in her castle." Souji said, his face unreadable.

"Then let's go!" Chie exclaimed, eager to save Yukiko.

We moved to the TV in the electronic department and as Chie and Yosuke went through, Souji stopped me.

"Yeah man?" I asked him, confused as to why he would stop me.

"I got you two weapons, just be careful when you fight. Remember you're not at top condition." he warned me as he gave me two weapons.

My eyes widened as I noticed what the weapons were. One of them was a wooden sword, durable but difficult to use efficiently with one arm. The other was a gun. A peacemaker.

"Souji, where did you get this?" I asked him, totally confused on how he could get his hands on a gun.

"Igor figured it was deserved for throwing you into the fray and you getting injured." He replied, a look of anger quickly flashing in his face at the mention of Igor.

"Of course." I rolled my eyes, as if they would sell a teenager a gun. We quickly entered the TV, meeting up with the others and running to the castle.

Upon reaching the castle, I was startled with how it looked in real life. If it was possible, I was even more scared of entering since it was huge and I knew it was filled with shadows. Reluctantly, we set out quickly into the castle, quickly running up to the third floor without having to fight a shadow.

As we walked through the fourth floor, we had our first shadow encounter. Souji stopped the group when he spotted the huge blob that crawled along the floor.

"The plan is that I will cut the shadow open, and we'll open fire with our personae to quickly defeat them. Try to save energy for higher floors." Souji advised us, and we nodded in response.

Souji ran towards the shadow silently, before cleaving it in half with his imitation katana before the individual shadows formed. There were three of them, appearing as black ravens.

With a menacing screech, one of the ravens tried to use its claws to slash at Souji but Yosuke used his persona, Jiraiya, to use garu, a wind attack. The raven crashed into the ground, where Chie kicked it into nothingness.

"One down!" Chie shouted, running to another raven.

As I watched Chie and Souji take out another raven, Yosuke shouted my name. "Ben! Watch out!"

I turned to see a raven coming towards me quickly, its talons at the ready. Not fast enough to block it with the sword, I grabbed the peacekeeper at my hip and pointed it at the bird. I fired three times, missing once but hitting it in the chest with the others.

"Where did you get that?" Chie asked, stunned at the fact that I had a gun.

"Ask me later, let's move on." I replied, moving down the hall along with Souji and hearing her and Yosuke quickly follow.

The rest of the floor continued like how it had in the beginning. Any shadow we found, Souji would initiate and we would take them down with weapons or personae. Along the way, my vision went blurry as cards appeared in front of me. Two showed personae, one looking like an angel into BDSM and another looking like a dancer. The third had a cup on it. I went for the one that wasn't too embarrassing and seemed useful; the dancer. I luckily grabbed the card, and my vision cleared, with the card manifested in my hand. '_I'm happy you picked me. I'll protect you._' I heard a voice say.

'_You can talk to me?_' I thought, trying to communicate.

'_Of course. I'm now part of you as well._' The voice responded.

'_Who are you?_'

'_I am Apsaras, pleased to meet you_'

'_Does that mean Orpheus can talk? And Izanagi?_'

'_I am able to, but Izanagi was a…special_ _case_' I heard a different voice reply.

'_Orpheus? Why was he a special case?_' I asked, wondering how many voices were in my head.

'_He was called from the sea of your unconscious to protect you. He is, and isn't, a manifestation of you. He can only be here in times of great need, such as when you last summoned us_.'

I nodded, before jumping at the sight of Chie being really close and waving her hand in my face. "Hey Ben? You zoned out. Let's get going."

"Yeah, sorry Chie."

She looked concerned but turned and walked along with the group with me behind her.

We climbed the staircase to the fifth floor and walked through the halls before coming to a problem. We kept teleporting somewhere else whenever we walked too far.

**Sorry this chapter is shorter, but I have plans for the next one. So how did you like the explanation to Ben's power? I was thinking it would make him leveled out a bit more, along with amnesia it retrospect to the game. Also, I've been thinking of adding a POV for Souji. Yes or no? Now Ben has Apsaras though, so who knows, maybe I have ideas for him :3 Until next time~ -The Beta Tester**


	4. Fury Unleashed

**Chapter 4! Thank you all so much for reading the story so far! We've broken 100+ views! Seriously, thank you all so much. Please review, they really let me know what you guys would like. Even if it's an idea or just wanting to mention something, please do! If you're shy (like I am), just PM me then. I would be happy to talk **** On to the story!**

"Damn it!" I heard Chie shout as she kicked the wall in frustration.

"Chie, calm it!" Souji ordered, making Chie glare before obeying. "We need to be focused and prepared before we get to Yukiko. We can't make mistakes. Remember how painful the last fight went? Yosuke needed a day just to recover."

"I just… I need to save her." Chie said, looking away from the group.

I walked up behind her and put my working arm around her shoulder. "Hey, don't worry. We will save her. You have my word Chie, and I don't break my promises." I said to her, squeezing her shoulder before turning to Souji. "This seems familiar, but I can't remember exactly how to solve this puzzle."

'_Orpheus. Apsaras. Any ideas on how to solve this?_' I asked the two personae.

As if I could feel Orpheus smirk inside my mind, he replied smugly. '_You know how to solve this puzzle. Focus on remembering. If I am you and you are me, then if I know, so do you. Now continue on your journey, and prepare yourself._'

'_That's so vague, how am I supposed to know? Orpheus?_' I asked, but I heard no response.

I sighed and sat down, clearing my mind and focusing on how to get to where we need to be. '_Even if I know it, how am I supposed to get there? If I can't find out, we'll be stuck here. Not only do I have to figure out how to get there, but now I have to figure out how to get back.' _

A memory struck me as I sat, making me think back to when I was younger.

_9 years ago…_

"But Sis! I don't want to walk to school alone!" I whined to my older sister, Emily. She was wearing a frilly dress for the first day of middle school, with her brown hair styled in a ponytail.

"Aww Benny… I'll walk you home, I just need to go now." Emily said sweetly.

"But I'll get lost!"

She walked up to me and ruffled my slightly darker brown hair and kissed my forehead. "Benny. If you get lost, turn around and walk back the way you came."

"Will I find my way back home for sure?"

"I promise sweetie. Now let me go before mom and dad get upset that I was late to school."

"Bye Emmy!"

_Present…_

I stared at the ground as the memory faded. I got up and walked up to Souji. "I have an idea. Follow me." I told him, turning as a tear fell down my cheek.

Chie walked up next to me and put her arm around my shoulder, a weird position for me being at least five inches taller. "Hey, it'll be alright. Souji told us what was happening. Are you okay?"

'Y-Yeah…just miss my family." I replied, shrugging off her shoulder as we approached the right side of a set of doors.

The idea must have worked, as we hadn't teleported somewhere else. The door opened and we walked into a big room. In the middle of the room, was Yukiko herself. She was dressed in a pink dress that would be normally seen on a princess.

As we walked in, Yukiko laughed and gestured to the shadow next to her, which was in the form of a knight. "My prince wouldn't lose to guards such as this, correct?"

"Yukiko!" Chie shouted, but to no avail, as Yukiko disappeared to someplace elsewhere.

The shadow started charging us, as we heard Teddie remark on how powerful the shadow was.

"Teddie, scan for its weakness!" Souji shouted, before rushing towards the shadow with Chie to barrage it with attacks.

'_Shit, I can't fire with them in the way. I need to use my sword, but I can't fully control it_.' I thought as I struggled to figure out how I could help the team. Yosuke was using his persona, but looked to be sweating and getting tired.

'_Switch to me! I have an idea!_' I heard Apsaras call out in my head. I switched my persona card like how Souji had to bring out Archangel. '_Try to channel my ability 'dia' through your arm. It should heal it or at least help you wield your wooden sword_.'

I followed her advice, channeling the ability into my arm rather than summoning Apsaras herself, and to my relief, my arm felt much better than it had before. I gasped when I realized that I could also wield my sword efficiently. With my arm healed and Orpheus switched back, I headed towards the knight.

The fight wasn't going that well. While Yosuke had been healing most of their injuries, Chie and Souji weren't looking so well. Souji was bleeding from a cut in his side that came from the knight's lance. Chie had been knocked down and was struggling to stand after being charged by the knight. The knight was approaching Chie as Souji stepped in between the two. As the Knight reared up his horse to charge, I ran to the flank of his horse and struck it with my wooden sword.

The knight turned towards me and swung his lance in a manner that a person would swing a bat. I jumped backwards, just being grazed by the tip of the lance. "Ngh!" I groaned as it cut a small cut in my chest. The knight's attention was on me, which allowed Souji to help Chie get up and use some medicine that Souji had prepared in case of an injury.

The knight kept up his assault, pushing me closer and closer to the wall behind me. As he reared up his horse again, I rolled out of the way and swung at his horse hind leg again. The horse, having been hit in that leg already by my wooden sword and Chie's painful kicks, fell to the ground taking the knight with it.

"Hey Souji, is it time to go all out?" I shouted towards him, and received a nod in response. We charged the knight, hitting him with a barrage of attacks before letting up as his horse rose to its hooves. "Agh, it's still alive!" Teddie exclaimed, before looking frightened. "It doesn't seem to have a weakness!"

If shadows could laugh, the knight let out a chuckle as his horse reared back to charge. His lance started glowing an eerie green color as the knight charged for Yosuke, who was kneeling and panting from exhaustion.

"Yosuke! Look out!" Chie shouted, as she ran towards the knight, futilely trying to stop his charge. Souji and I ran towards Yosuke, standing in front of him to block the knight. The knight showed no signs of slowing, and we braced ourselves for the collision.

'_Summon me! I can use 'Tarunda' to weaken his attack!_' Orpheus commanded me.

As I summoned Orpheus, Souji must have had a similar idea. He summoned Izanagi to use 'Tarukaja' and 'Rakukaja', abilities that strengthened us both offensively and defensively.

As the knight thrust his lance towards us, we used our weapons to knock his lance skywards. The idea worked well, but the lance still managed to graze my right shoulder before making the knight lose balance again.

The cut the knight made in my shoulder started to make my arm feel numb and the feeling made me drop my sword. As the group charged the knight, the knight swung his lance around, hitting the group and knocking them down.

"Ngh..I'm sorry Yukiko…" Chie said as she struggled to get up.

"Hang in there guys!" Teddie shouted, preparing to run into the fight.

"Run Ben! Run Teddie! Save yourselves!" Yosuke shouted, summoning his persona which barely hurt the already weakened knight.

"Tell Igor I couldn't do it. I'm sorry." Souji said to me.

'_Are you going to let your new friends die?_' Orpheus asked.

'_What can I do? I need to help them._' I replied, begging for a way to be able to save them.

'_Use our powers together. While you still can._' Apsaras said.

The cut in my arm had to be poisoned. It explained the numbness and the green glow to the wound and the one the knight's lance had.

"No." I growled, my voice taking a deeper tone, similar to Orpheus'.

The knight turned to me and appeared as if smiling in victory. I glared at it with a feeling I could only describe as raw fury.

"I will not lose the ones I care about!" I roared, bringing my arms in towards my chest. A bright light started glowing in my hands, and as I stared in the face of the startled knight, I let out a sharp cry of power.

"Cadenza!" I screamed, bathing everyone in a white light. The light had seemed to heal the group's injuries and my own. The cut in my arm shrunk and bled less, but still glowed green with the poison still flowing towards my heart.

I ran towards the knight, grabbing Souji's imitation katana off the ground and wielded it while running. As I reached the knight, the knight tried to raise his lance in fear, but with my rage-induced strength, I smacked it aside. I charged all of my fury into heat the resonated from the blade in my hands, making it glow red and spark on fire.

"Now pay for hurting my friends!" I shouted, bringing the blade down on the knight's head, cleaving it in half. As the shadow and my rage evaporated, I dropped the blade and collapsed, succumbing to the numbness that had started to spread throughout my body.

"Ben!" "Dude!" "Master!" I heard shouted as my vision faded. '_Damn that bear…I said I wasn't his master…_' I thought before entirely blacking out.

_Elsewhere…_

"It seems that they have defeated the boss on the fifth floor of the castle." Margaret said.

Igor smiled, knowing that it must have been a difficult battle. "The two are simply fascinating. This journey will certainly be exciting." Igor remarked.

**Phew! That was a bit of a tough one to write. I tried not to make the fight too easy for the group, seeing as though having two wild cards isn't exactly fair odds for the shadows. How'd you like the whole ability channeling in the fight? I thought it would be a nice touch. Plus, I got to make Ben have a flaming sword :3 Thank you all so much for reading, you really do brighten my day to see new visitors. Please review to help me get more ideas on where to go with the story and to improve my writing. Special thanks to that certain someone who knows who they are. You really are a huge help. Until next time~ –The Beta Tester**


	5. Break Down

**Welcome back you guys! Time for chapter five! I'm going to try to write to these chapters better and better, since I don't want the story to be outright awful. Thank you to The Blue Lights for the review. I'll try to make my writing better but I'm practically an infant at this point in writing. Also, thank you for making me think, you gave me some pretty neat ideas ^.^ On to chapter 5!**

As my consciousness drifted in and out, I remember vaguely hearing shouting and my body moving fast. I was placed onto something, I couldn't recall what though as my consciousness faded again.

When I awoke, I felt a presence in the room. Opening my eyes, I turned to my left to see a girl in a green jacket sleep, using my arm as a pillow. She looked peaceful, snoring slightly as if having a nice dream. I smiled at the thought, before closing my eyes again. I didn't fall asleep, but I waited a short while until Chie, the girl on my arm, awoke.

When I was sure she had awoke and started rising from my arm, I reopened my eyes. I smiled, trying to make her feel at ease as her faced turned red. I pondered why her face would become red briefly before realizing. As her hand crossed my face, I felt the sting burn my left cheek. As I stared at her wide-eyed and shocked, she offered up her explanation for smacking me.

"That's for risking your life, idiot." she growled angrily, glaring into my eyes dangerously. As my expression stayed, her gaze softened and she looked away. "And…thank you. We wouldn't have survived if you hadn't done that." she mumbled.

"Don't thank me, it was nothing." I said to her, bringing my right hand up to try to reassure her.

"It wasn't nothing!" she exclaimed, squeezing my arm slightly painfully. As I gasped, she went wide-eyed and immediately let go of my arm. "Sorry!, Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I replied. As I spoke, I wondered why the pain hadn't hurt worse, since I had been cut yesterday. "Are we back at the hospital? My wounds…"

"Yes, we're at the hospital. We rushed you here when your arm started turning green. We barely made it in time to get the poison out of you." she said, looking away.

_What if they hadn't brought me here in time? Would I have…?_

I shook my head to remove the thoughts, as I looked back to Chie. "Why are you here though?"

"I wanted to check up on you, since you saved us. I didn't want you to feel alone." She said, smiling softly. I looked at her stunned. _She picked up on it already?!_ It was true that I felt lonely, especially without being able to see my family, but could she really pick up on it that fast? Brushing it off as her worrying for me since I'm younger and hurt, I smiled back.

"I'm going to go tell everyone you woke up. You'd better be ready to answer all the questions we have." she told me, attempting to sound strict but being betrayed by a smirk.

"Of course. Goodbye" I waved her off, laying back down to rest before the rest had arrived.

As I went back to sleep, my dream turned different. I opened my eyes, looking around the interior of a moving limo that was the Velvet Room. As Igor and Margaret stared at me, I started to fidget in my seat. "Yes?" I asked them, confused at the lack of greeting and their ceaseless staring.

"You, dear boy, have started to become something of an enigma. Your actions have caused you to have a certain…someone's power." Igor said, pausing briefly as if remembering something.

"The power you used in the previous battle, the one known as Cadenza, has not been used in two years. The last persona to use it was another wild card. Do you know who he was?" Margaret asked me, her normal neutral expression now taken change with an irritated expression.

"His name? It was…" I said, pondering his name before it came to mind. "Minato Arisato."

"Do you remember what Mr. Arisato's persona was?" Margaret pressed, causing Igor to look at her disdainfully.

I looked at her with a wary gaze before answering. "Orpheus."

"And what was your initial persona?" Margaret further pressed, her stare now intense.

"What does this have to do with anything?" I asked, my blood heating up as she asked leading questions.

"Answer the question!" Margaret shouted. As she got more intense with her interrogating, the velvet color of the room proceeded to darken, unnoticed by the two arguing.

"Orpheus! Now what does this have to do with anything?!" I shouted back, rising with my words.

"Enough!" Igor shouted. The room turned to a black color before slowly shifting back to velvet. "The reason she asks is because her sister went missing, searching for a way to bring him back."

I immediately turned to look at Margaret, her gaze no longer intense but somber instead. She nodded and I walked past the table to sit next to her.

"Hey. You could talk about it you know. I would actually understand missing a sister." I looked at her, my voice cracking slightly.

She nodded, before regaining her neutral gaze. "I'm sorry for my outburst." she said.

"Margaret. Don't go being all fake. You think I'm not sad about not seeing my sister? I'm in pieces. If you need to talk about it, I'll listen." I stood up, as if sensing I would be leaving imminently. Before I could lose consciousness again, a card appeared in front me.

The card looked like a vase with a sword hilt coming out of the top. Around it was a series of vines that connected to it and above, a crown. At sight of the card, Margaret chuckled, and said that it was of the empress arcana. As my vision went black, I heard her say it was her arcana as well.

"Hey Ben…Wake up…" I heard a voice say.

"Please, give me five more minutes." I pleaded, just wanting to sleep longer.

"You have to wake up now." I heard a different, more masculine voice say.

"We have an energy drink." I heard a 3rd voice say, laughing as I started to sit up.

The three people in my hospital room were Souji, Yosuke, and Chie. Yosuke handed me the drink smirking, and I happily drank it.

"Okay now that you're awake, we can settle issues we need to solve. The foremost being Yukiko is still in her castle." Souji said, relaying the situation to all of us.

"Well, then let's go save her." I said, getting off the bed.

"Yukiko, as much as I hate to say it Chie, can wait a couple hours. We have other business to attend to." Souji said, making Chie look annoyed.

"Such as?" I asked.

"Mainly enrolling you into school and finding you a place." Yosuke answered. I looked at him somewhat startled, as he spoke for the first time since trying to wake me up.

"If you're going to be here for who knows how long, you need to at least be going to school." Souji said. "As for a place to stay, do you remember the first time we were here? When I needed to make a call?"

"Yeah, why?"

"It was to my uncle Dojima. I asked him if you could stay over until we could find another place for you. He said as long as you can stay in my room, you can stay as long as you like."

"Does he know anything?" Chie asked, relating to the case and to my family situation. Souji shook his head no.

We ended the conversation there, opting to get on with our task of me going with Chie to get enrolled while the other two bought supplies. As we walked silently, it took the time to analyze the path to the school. We walked past the flood plains and we shortly arrived at the gates. The school was big, with cherry blossoms around throughout the courtyard.

Once inside, we walked into the faculty office in search for a teacher. The teacher we found was a middle-aged man wearing a dark navy suit. He had straight black hair styled in a messed up bob-cut, and buck teeth as if the man had foregone dental care. Upon spotting us, the teacher immediately put on a scowl and walked up to us.

"Whaddya want?" he asked slightly forcefully.

Chie stepped up next to me. "His name is Benjamin Saori. He wants to enroll here." she explained.

"So this kid is too much of a pipsqueak to say that himself?" He asked, almost challengingly.

I locked eyes with him in a glare. "Fine. My name, as you might have understood, is Benjamin Saori. Now can I actually enroll here, or do I need to find a more competent teacher?" I growled, startling both Chie and the man.

"Listen here bub, just because you're here with a student doesn't mean you can enroll. How about sending your parents so I don't have to deal with your ass." He replied angrily, turning and starting to walk away.

"Well what if I don't have parents?!" I shouted, my hair covering my eyes to hide the tears threatening to fall. The man turned halfway around before slowly speaking. "Kid…are you really an orphan?" he asked, sympathy sounding in his voice. Before I could be stopped, I walked out the door, breaking into sprint immediately when I was out of the room. I heard Chie call my name, but I didn't want to be near anyone.

I ran and ran, running away from the school. When I had reached the flood plains, I walked down the steps and sat with my back to a nearby tree. I curled into a ball, holding my legs and putting my forehead onto my knees. _I know I'm not really an orphan, but it hurts so much. I miss Emily, I miss mom and dad, I miss my brother, and I miss my friends. Why did I have to do something so stupid and get stuck in a damn game?_

I sat there, crying as I wished to go back. After a few more minutes, I heard footsteps come near me. I didn't make any attempt to move, even when the person put their arm around my shoulders and sat down next to me. When they pulled me closer, I didn't hesitate. I noticed the green jacket and I knew it was Chie. After staying in that position for a bit, I rubbed my eyes and pulled away from her grasp.

"T-Thank you Chie…" I murmured quietly.

"Next time you run like that again, I'm going to kick you." she threatened me, causing me to look at her startled. "If you need to talk about something that's bothering you, don't run. Tell me. I'm here if you need someone."

I nodded, smiling shyly and looking down. As I started to stand with her, a card appeared in front of me again. This time, the card appeared to have a person riding in a carriage pulled by two sphinxes. Once the card disappeared, time returned to normal and we made our way to the Junes food court.

**Another chapter down! I tried to have as little SPAG errors as possible, but being new there are probably tons. Two new social links! While I'm planning on Ben going through all the major arcana, I don't want him to take them too fast. As for Chie, I didn't want to make her seem too out of character but I wanted to make someone who was friendly enough to cheer him up. Next chapter is the boss battle. That'll be fun to write. **** Until next time~ -The Beta Tester**


	6. Yukiko Saved

**Sorry I'm so late, I've had a rough weekend. I'll keep trying to make updates often though. I really don't want to disappoint you guys but this is my first really important fight, so feedback would really be appreciated. Well, onto the story!**

As Chie and I walked, I grew quiet. _I made an entire fool of myself at the school. Now she's going to think she needs to protect me. What if I fuck up when we save Yukiko? She could…_ I frowned and shook my head. _I won't let that happen. I won't mess up._

Chie seemed to notice my expression and asked me what was wrong. I brushed it off as jitters at the upcoming fight and I started to walk faster. She frowned but said nothing as we entered Junes.

Upon arriving at the food court, we noticed Souji and Yosuke sitting and talking about something seemingly serious. As we approached and they noticed us, they stopped talking and faced us. Souji's face was full of concern when he looked towards me. _I guess she must have told them too. I don't want to deal with this right now. _"Are we ready to go?" I asked Souji. With a wary nod, I turned and walked towards the electronic department.

Noticing I was slightly ahead of the others, I decided to enter the TV alone. When I landed rather uncomfortably, I surveyed the area. As dangerous as it may be, it was the first time I paid any attention to the scenery. Besides the fact that it looked like I was in a haunted movie set, there was a blue door off to the side. I walked towards it, the door opening at my presence.

Once inside, I immediately noticed I had arrived at the Velvet room. _That's right, glowing blue doors are supposed to be normal to just walk into. _As I gazed at Igor, he gestured me to sit and I did so. "So tell me, what do we owe this pleasurable visit?" He asked, seemingly interested as to what I was going to say.

"I wanted to ask about what your role is. I'm afraid I can't quite remember what it was." I told them, sparking a startled face on both Igor's and Margaret's faces.

"We never told you what we so?" Margaret asked shocked. I shook my head, holding back laughter at their shock.

"My dear boy, I apologize. You've been here already a few times and have no idea what we help you with. Our role in your journey is to help you create new power." Igor said apologetically.

"How do you mean to do that?" I asked, almost outright laughing at the thought of Igor giving me a workout regime.

"By using your personae to craft new ones." Margaret answered me.

"So to get stronger, I'll have to sacrifice my current personae?" I asked, worrying about Orpheus and Apsaras.

"Yes my boy, but don't worry. You will be able to use the compendium to retrieve these personae that you have recorded into it." Igor said, as Margaret showed me the compendium. It looked like an old book yet it somehow emanated power.

"Okay. I'll be going now, since I don't really want to get rid of these two just yet." I told them, standing up and exiting the room.

As I walked out, I noticed a hand waving in front of my face. I turned quickly, noticing it was Yosuke's hand. "Hey, you okay? You were just standing there like a zombie." Yosuke asked, to which I gave a weak excuse for, saying I was tired before walking in the direction of Yukiko's castle.

When we arrived, we returned to the fifth floor where we had made it to last and we ran up the next staircase. The floor didn't offer as strong an opponent as the knight had been, but I did manage to get two more personae. The personae said their names were Pixie and Sandman respectively.

We fought until we made it to the eighth floor, with minor things happening along the way. Yosuke's persona learned Sukukaja, a spell that increased speed, and Dekaja, a spell that nullified enemy buffs. Chie's persona learned Bufu, an ice spell, and skull cracker, a physical attack that could confuse the enemy. As for Souji, he had unlocked Forneus, a persona who had also known Bufu along with buff spells. I had unlocked another persona, but not one I particularly wanted. I had drawn it when I missed the card I wanted which depicted a horse like creature. Instead, I got a slime.

"Are we ready?" Chie asked, enthusiasm at the fact that we were right about to save Yukiko well heard in her voice.

"Wait." I said, prompting the group to look at me. "I want to go check something out that I saw earlier, I'll be right back." I said, turning and using a Goho-M to return to the opening of the castle. I ran back to the entrance of the Velvet room, and opened the door.

Upon walking in, I sat down. "Igor, I need a stronger persona."

"Hm, without even a greeting?" He asked amused.

"Sorry, but all my personae are kinda weak. I don't want another episode like the knight fight." I said, not even caring that I had rhymed weirdly.

"What would you be willing to get rid of then?" He asked. After recording all my personae, I chose to get rid of Pixie, Sandman, and Slime. He looked back at the three cards and back to me. "Are you ready?"

"Yes." with that, he put the three in a triangle formation faced down. With a flourish of his hand, the cards flipped upwards and began to glow. As I watched stunned, the cards started to rise off the table and turn in a circular cycle. They stopped, appearing on circular pattern, like one out of an anime I had watched. With a flash, they collided together, forming a singular card.

As the card fell, a ghostly form of the persona I had made. It gazed at me before saying anything, as if analyzing the person it would be bound to. "I am Oberon, the fairy king. I will help you, if only because I need to." he said, before disappearing into the card that had landed on the table.

"Well, it looks like you have unlocked Oberon. I hope he suits your desire." Igor said, grinning.

"He seemed like a jerk." I said, displeased at the persona's words.

_You'll have much worse to face then my words, foolish child._

_You better be much more than just words if you're going to be a jerk._ I replied to the persona, equipping Orpheus to escape hearing the king's words.

I left the Velvet room and returned to the top floor of the castle once more. When I got there, the group readied their weapons and their psyche. "Is everyone ready now?" Souji asked, gripping his sword tightly. With a nod, Chie kicked the door open.

The room we had entered was huge, designed to be a throne room. It was decorated with several columns that held the ceiling up. Leading up to the throne itself, was a red silk carpet. The last defining thing was that there were a couple birdcages, including one that had a chandelier under it.

When we had ran in, Chie shouted to Yukiko. What had confused me was that there were two Yukikos. I had known that shadow forms of people looked exactly like them, but it was startling that it was true. One Yukiko was dressed in a kimono, kneeling on the ground with a horrified expression. The other had been grinning, dressed in a pink princess dress like the one that we saw on the fifth floor.

"I knew there was two of her!" Yosuke shouted, confirming whatever suspicions he had.

"Oh? Ooooh, what's this?" Shadow Yukiko asked, chuckling as we approached behind the real Yukiko. "Four princes to see me? My my! Are you the surprise guests that came in late? Aww…I wished I'd gotten a better look at you!" She exclaimed, creeping me out at the way she said princes.

"My, it's crowded in here. Why don't you and I go somewhere else? A land far, far away where no one knows me. If you're my prince, you'd take me there won't you? C'mon… pretty please?" She continued, asking one of us to take her away.

Teddie made a joke, but I paid no mind to it. I was still shocked at the fact that she thought one of us were her prince. I subtly switched to Oberon.

_Hey Oberon? All displeasure aside, she's not talking about us is she?_

_Why would she be? _He replied, somewhat amused.

_Well, you're a king and I am you, so I was wondering…_

_Is somebody hoping to take advantage of this situation?_

_N-No! Just wanted to set my mind at ease._

_Don't worry. It isn't a king's position to do so. So if you truly are myself, stand firm and place yourself as such. _His tone turned from amusement to seriousness. As if his words and feelings affected mine, I grew irritated at her insolence. _If I'm a king, she shouldn't address me as just a mere prince. _I held my words back, trying to keep my feelings neutral despite this sudden anger.

As I cleared my thoughts, my attention came back as Shadow Yukiko said that Chie was her prince. It certainly shocked everyone, including myself. She kept talking about Chie, describing her as strong and saying she led the way. Then she said that Chie was no longer good enough. I looked at Chie, seeing her distressed face at the thought of not being able to help Yukiko.

As I was about to raise my voice in anger, Yukiko beat me to it. She had told the shadow to stop, which sparked another rant on how she didn't want her inn chaining her down. _She feels so trapped… I can understand, but why not make her voice heard? _

She continued her rant, yelling that everything had been decided for her. She didn't stop there, saying to hell with it all. She said she wanted someone to take her away, anywhere but here and that she couldn't make it on her own. As the shadow kept ranting, the real Yukiko kept pleading for the shadow to stop. _Things are getting out of hand, I can practically feel the tension around me…_

"N-No…" I heard Yukiko say, realizing too late at what was going to happen. As everyone shouted at her to stop, the words fell upon deaf ears as Yukiko took a solid step forward. "No! You're not me!"

Shadow Yukiko began to laugh hysterically, as dark energy started to surround her. When the energy dissipated, a birdcage fell down with the shadow inside. The shadow was a red bird with Yukiko's black hair and a white heart on her chest. As everyone readied themselves into a fighting stance, Teddie ran to the real Yukiko, pulling her back with him to protect her.

Souji summoned Izanagi, using Rakunda to weaken the shadow's defense while Yosuke summoned Jiraiya to use Garu. The wind spell didn't deal much damage, but it did anger her. Chie used Bufu while I used Zio, a lightning spell. The lightning wasn't too effective but the ice managed to deal more damage to her, resulting in the shadow to fall from the birdcage. We charged, dealing heavy damage to her before a gust of wind blew us back.

The shadow was furious, and went to attack Chie. Chie dodged her claws narrowly, before Souji brought out Forneus to freeze the shadow's wings. The shadow fell again, and once more we charged to deal even more damage to her.

This time, she roared and I felt the temperature increased. My eyes widened when I realized she was using a fire spell. "Burn to Ashes!" the shadow roared, causing our surroundings to burst on fire. The flames knocked Chie down, with her screaming in pain. "Chie!" Souji shouted, jumping to guard Chie from some of the flames. Oberon was apparently resistant to it, as the flames didn't hurt too badly.

I switched to Orpheus, before trying to channel my power between him and Apsaras. _Please, I need to use that ability once more!_ I channeled my anger and worry into the core of my body, bringing my arms in. The white glow that I had once used returned, and I swung my arms outwards, as the light cascaded onto my teammates. I looked to the others, seeing them in better shape. The spell made me feel a little dizzy, but I shrugged it off and switched back to Oberon.

Souji and Chie used Bufu, this time together, creating a large chunk of ice to surround the shadow's wings again. Instead of charging, Yosuke did something strange. His feet began to glow green, and with a gust of wind from his persona, he jumped towards the shadow. He turned in the air, spiraling with his daggers in front of him like a giant arrow. When he hit the shadow, she screamed in agony as the attack did heavy damage. Yosuke was knocked away painfully, as she melted the ice and smacked him into a wall.

I ran to him, dodging as the shadow sent a fireball directly at my feet. Once I made it to Yosuke, I gave him some medicine and helped him up. "What the fuck was that?" I asked him.

"I focused the wind into my feet, and when I used it to take off, I hit her at a fast speed." he replied, flourishing his daggers as he cracked his wrists.

The shadow summoned another shadow. The shadow looked like a blobby version of a man in a prince outfit, complete with a crown and a sword. The shadow chuckled, introducing it as her prince. The prince cast a shining light, which cascaded over Shadow Yukiko, healing her. _Son of a bitch! I'm going to take care of that bastard. _

Souji and Chie continued to cast Bufu spells, but they seemed to be getting tired. The prince ran towards Chie, slashing at her with his sword. I ran towards her, as she dodged the first swing of his sword. _No! Please! She's the one person who truly tried to help me. Please don't get hurt._

My thoughts were in vain as the next slice went deep into her arm. My rage spiked, as I screamed at the top of my lungs. Shadow Yukiko chuckled. "My my, someone seems upset." she said. I paid no mind to her and pointed at the prince shadow. "You! I challenge you to a duel. The winner is her prince." I shouted, pointing towards Shadow Yukiko as Oberon's feelings mixed with mine.

"What are you doing?!" Souji shouted towards me, but again I paid no mind. I focused on getting the shadow away from Chie, who was pale and wide-eyed at the amount of blood she was losing. Yosuke rushed to her, his hands glowing with a white energy and his persona following suit.

The shadow made a sort of nod as if it understood, and I immediately charged towards him. I knew my rage wouldn't help me in the fight, but I couldn't calm down. I swung my wooden sword, clashing with his. I heard shadow Yukiko laugh and make a remark, but I couldn't understand through my rage.

The shadow took advantage of my anger, using it to sweep my feet from under me with his sword. As I struggled to stand, I saw the shadow start taking steps towards Chie and Yosuke. Chie started crawling away in fear, as Yosuke stood to guard her.

The cry from my throat was bloodcurdling and anything but human. The shadow turned, barely managing to block my strike. As I raised the wooden sword again, I channeled Oberon's Zio through the sword. When the strike hit, the shadow fell to his knees while screaming in agony. I didn't let up, smashing my sword down on the shadow along with lightning crackling through the shadow. As I swung one final time, the shadow dissipated with a scream.

I turned to the group and summoned Apsaras. My anger started subside after killing the one shadow, and I took notice of my group's condition. Chie was bleeding much less, but was still bleeding slightly. Yosuke was bruised up and was sweating, but he seemed like he could still fight. Souji was in a bad condition, having several injuries after fighting Shadow Yukiko by himself. I raised one arm with my hand outstretched. "Cadenza." I said calmly, my anger fully dispersed and my teammates healing from the spell.

I turned towards Shadow Yukiko. "I'm your prince now, right? I'll take you away, but can you do one thing for me?" I asked, stepping towards Souji and subtly swapping weapons with him. I would need it for my plan to work.

"Hehehe, what would you like?" the shadow asked, laughing as it thought I betrayed my team.

"Come down here." I said, smiling as brightly as I could. With a gust of wind, she landed in front of me.

"Is that all?" She asked curiously.

"Nope. I want a hug." I said, walking forward with my left arm outstretched towards her. As I walked closer, I channeled all my power into the blade behind my back. I made the blade become as cold as I possibly could before I reached her. I finally reached her, putting my arm around her abdomen, hugging her softly. Then, as quickly as I could, I brought the blade down on her left wing.

She screeched as I cut through part of her wing, freezing the rest of it solid. I turned, looking directly at Souji. "Now!"

He nodded, waving his hand forward as they charged. I jumped back to ward off some of the blow from the shadow's other wing. The hit still knocked me a few feet away. I got up, and charged, attacking with all the might I had. The shadow let out an agonized scream, and dissipated.

The next events were a blur as Yukiko accepted her shadow, which became her persona, named Konohana-Sakuya. We took her out of the world, and Chie had walked her home. I walked with Souji to his home, where I gave a tired greeting to his uncle, Ryotaro Dojima. Souji explained that I was just getting out of the hospital, so I was really tired. Dojima nodded understanding, and Souji guided me upstairs to his room. When we finally entered his room, I collapsed onto the couch, with a feeling of success deep in my chest.

**Oh my gosh! 3k chapter! Also, 200 views and 100 visitors milestone passed by last chapter! Thank you all so much, I love you guys. You truly make me feel so great and you make me love writing this. I hope it wasn't written to poorly or hurriedly, it took me all day! If you liked it or had another idea at what I could've done, feel free to review! Boy, I'm tired. Until next time~ -The Beta Tester**


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